Pep talk haunts City

MANCHESTER. — Manchester City may come to regret their decision to announce Pep Guardiola’s appointment as manager four months before Manuel Pellegrini relinquishes charge of the English Premier League soccer club.

City are still in contention to win four trophies, but their form in the two weeks since they confirmed Guardiola’s arrival in July has raised questions about their ability to mark Pellegrini’s departure with silverware. Successive home defeats by leaders Leicester City and second-placed Tottenham Hotspur have left City six points off the pace with serious doubts about whether their expensively-assembled squad is still playing for the manager. Backed by the wealth of Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, City are proving that all the money in the world cannot guarantee success on the field. — Reuters.